Google has won a domain dispute at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against a Chinese citizen. The domain nanabanana.io was the subject of consideration, on which an enterprising developer deployed a paid image generation service, parasitizing on the search giant’s new AI product.
Google has won a domain dispute at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against a Chinese citizen. The domain nanabanana.io was the subject of consideration, on which an enterprising developer deployed a paid image generation service, parasitizing on the search giant’s new AI product.
dev.ua tells how a Chinese squatter tried to cash in on the hype surrounding Google’s neural networks and why arbitration sided with the American corporation, even despite the lack of a registered trademark.
In August 2025, a powerful new image generation and editing model called «Nano Banana» was anonymously released on the popular neural network testing platform LM Arena. It quickly caused a stir in the community (particularly on Reddit), where users began to suspect that Google was behind it.
The speculation was confirmed on August 26, 2025, when Google officially presented its new tool — Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, which had the internal code name nano-banana.
Already on September 3, 2025, at the peak of discussions about Google’s new product, Chinese citizen Cheng Xinfang registered the domain nanabanana.io.
He didn’t just take the address, but used a classic typosquatting scheme (a deliberate mistake in a word — replacing the letter «o» with «a»). On this domain, the Chinese launched a full-fledged commercial website offering AI image editing services under the brand name «Nana Banana.»
The prices for clone services were quite realistic:
The «Starter» package is $7.90.
The «Max» package is $55.90.
In addition, the site directly mentioned the original term nano banana to attract search traffic from users looking for a new product from Google.
The main difficulty for Google was that the company did not have an officially registered trademark for «Nano Banana» — it was only a working name. However, the corporation’s lawyers used the norm of «unregistered rights» (common law rights).
Arbitrator Tobias Malte Müller agreed with Google’s arguments:
Rapid recognition: In the digital age, especially in the AI world, a brand can become a source identifier in a matter of weeks if it gets massive exposure. The buzz on LM Arena and Reddit has proven that the name «Nano Banana» is strongly associated with Google.
Deliberate theft: The name is unique (it is not descriptive and not commonly used for image generation). The fact that a Chinese person created an AI image service and used a name changed by one letter indicates a direct intent to deceive users.
Ignoring the process: Like most cybersquatters, Chen Xinfang did not respond to the complaint and hid his details behind a privacy service (until it was revealed by the registrar NameCheap).
Verdict: The Chinese developer’s actions were found to be in bad faith. The arbitration panel decided to immediately transfer the nanabanana.io domain to Google LLC.
